


I'm Bisexual

by Faldris



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Bi Tony, Coming Out, Gen, Minor OC - Freeform, bi peter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 03:52:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14947067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Faldris/pseuds/Faldris
Summary: Peter tries to convince himself that it isn't a big deal. All he has to say are two words."I'm bisexual."Why was it so hard?





	I'm Bisexual

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally meant to be a 1-2k one shot, but here I am with 7k words and another chapter planned.

“I’m going to tell Aunt May” Peter said suddenly as he and Ned sat alone at their usual table. Ned looked slightly confused.

“I thought she already knew.” Peter panicked for a second.

“What? no! How would she know?” Ned looked at him as if he was stupid.

“She caught you in the suit, remember?” Peter’s panic quickly faded.

“No not that secret, the… other one” he said, slightly afraid to say it out loud in the crowded lunch hall. Ned still looked confused for a moment, but then realisation spread across his face.

“You’re going to come out to her?” he whispered, a bit louder than Peter would have liked.

“Sshh. But yes. Tonight, probably. I’ve been thinking about it a lot… and like you said, it’s not really a big deal so yeah, I’m going to tell her.” Admittedly, Peter wasn’t sure if he was actually going to do it. The main reason he was telling Ned was to convince himself to actually do it.

“That’s great man. I’m happy for you.” Peter forced a smile.

“It will be nice to get it over with.” Again, this was more to convince himself than anything else.

“Text me when you have, alright?”

“Ok, I’m going to the compound today, so it won’t be until later, but I’ll text you.” Now there was no backing out.

“To work with Tony?” Ned said in his overexcited voice he always used when talking about the avengers. Peter nodded. “Does he know?”

“What? No! I can’t tell him.”

“Why not?”

“We’re not that close, besides I don’t even know how he feels about that kind of thing.” He and Tony had been getting a lot closer lately, but not that close, and Peter didn’t want to risk throwing it all away.

“Oh ok, well good luck with May. It’s going to be fine.”

“It’s going to be fine,” Peter repeated quietly. Before he had the chance to overthink it, Ned was telling him about an awesome Lego collector he found online who had other 1000 rare or unique pieces, and Peter found himself relaxing.

All of this would be a lot harder if Ned hadn’t been by his side the whole time. In fact, he was the only one who knew at the moment and was the one Peter immediately came to when he first started freaking out about all of this.

_“Ned, I think I have a crush on Jason.” He said one evening in Ned’s house with a pile of Lego bricks between them. Jason Price had joined Midtown School at the beginning of term, and it seemed that everyone took an instant liking to him. At first Peter hadn’t paid any more attention to him than the occasional stare, but when he’d asked to sit next to Peter in history, one of the few classes he didn’t share with Ned, Peter found himself speechless, only able to give a quick not. Nevertheless, Peter’s awkwardness didn’t seem to deter Jason, and he kept talking to him with his sweet voice and beautiful smile. That was when Peter realised his feelings weren’t entirely platonic. He’d been freaking out about it the entire day and couldn’t hold it in any longer._

_“Oh, you going to tell him?”_

_“No!” Peter said immediately. They both sat in silence. “Is that really all you’re going to say?” Ned shrugged._

_“What else do you want me to say?”_

_“I don’t know! I’m freaking out Ned!” he exclaimed._

_“Why?” Ned said simply._

_“Why? Did you hear me right? I have a crush on Jason, as in Jason Price, a dude.”_

_“I heard you… it’s just not a big deal.”_

_“It’s a big deal to me. I’m kind of freaking out here.” Peter had no idea how Ned was being so chill about this._

_“Shit, sorry Pete.” Ned moved around to put his arm around Peter’s shoulder. “I just didn’t think it was but, you’re my best friend and I’m here for you no matter what, so if you think this is a big deal then I’m going to do whatever I can to help.” Peter leant into Ned._

_“Thank you. And you’re right, it’s not a big deal. I guess I’m just overthinking this.” Ned chuckled._

_“You do tend to do that, but I’m always happy to help.”_

_“I know.” Peter smiled, finally finding himself able to relax._

_“So, you’re bi then?” It felt weird to hear him saying it, Peter had hardly had the time to think about labels but given his crushes on Liv and now Jason it did make sense._

_“Yeah I guess so.”_

_“Does anyone else know?”_

_“No, you’re the first.”_

_“Do you want to go back to building Lego or stay like this for a while?”_

_“Lego.” He felt as if he could have stayed curled up against Ned forever, but he was also really excited to get the star destroyer built. And just like that they were back to building Lego, as if nothing had changed._

\---

When he got out of school, he immediately noticed Happy’s car waiting outside as it often had recently.

“Hey Happy,” he said as he climbed into the car. Happy replied with his usual grunt. The rest of the car journey passed in silence. Peter was too preoccupied to start a conversation, and besides Happy never seemed too pleased about his usual chatter. He kept running over scenarios in his head of how May would react. Best case she smiles and hugged him, telling him she loved him no matter what, worst case she screams at him and kicks him out, leaving him alone on the streets of New York. She’d always been ok with LGBT people in the past, but Peter had heard stories of parents who seemed nice and accepting but had suddenly turned when it came to their own kid. Peter didn’t know how he’d cope if May got upset with him.   

He was so absorbed in thought that he didn’t even notice as they pulled up in front of the compound.

“We’re here.” Happy’s voice snapped him out of his trance.

“Oh, thanks Happy,” he said getting out the car.

“Are you alright kid? Usually you don’t shut up the whole journey.”

“I’m fine… just thinking that’s all.”

“Alright, have a good time. I’ll be ready when you need to get back.”

“Thanks, Happy.”

When he stepped into the compound he was greeted by FRIDAY’s voice.

“Hello Peter, Mr Stark is in his lab, you can meet him there.”

“Thank you, FRIDAY.” Walking to the lab was almost like second nature by now. He remembered the first time he was told to meet Mr Stark in his lab and he’d managed to get lost, only to be found by War Machine 20 minutes later, which is certainly not how he imagined his first meeting with another avenger would go. It took him a couple of weeks to get over the embarrassment. Thankfully it hadn’t taken him long to learn the way.

“Hey Mr Stark” he said as he walked into the lab, placing his backpack onto the bench. Tony looked up from his work.

“How many times do I have to tell you to call me Tony? Mr Stark is way to formal.”

“Sorry Mr Stark.” Peter replied holding back a smirk.

“Now you’re just messing with me.” He smiled at Peter. “Got anything for me today?” It had become common for Peter to come up to the lab and together they’d work on any little fixes in Peter’s suit (and one time Tony even let him look in the Iron Man suit).

“Yes, I was trying out the rapid-fire option for the web and found that after using it I had to wait a bit until I could use the webs again. I mean it wasn’t too bad, but I wouldn’t want to suddenly lose my web abilities in the middle of a fight.”

“Well let’s get it open then.” Peter grabbed his suit from his rucksack and lay it on the table. Once they’d figured out a solution, Tony left Peter to do the repair himself while he continued with what he’d been working on before Peter arrived. For a while they sat in silence working, which gave Peter’s mind a chance to wander back to thinking about coming out to May. It seemed as if he’d walked through every single possible scenario in his mind, and although he tried to think of the good ones, his mind kept going back to the worst. He began to wonder what it was like sleeping out on the streets.

“Kid?” Tony’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Are you ok? You seem awfully quiet.”

“Just working,” he deflected.

“Really? because Happy said you didn’t say a word the whole way up here, and you usually can’t seem to stop talking.”

“He told you that?”

“Yeah, he was worried about you kid, and frankly I am too.” Peter didn’t know how to respond to that. He was never under the impression Happy viewed him as anything other than a slight annoyance. “Look, I’m not great at all this emotion stuff, but I am here to listen if you ever need to talk. Something worrying you? School?”

“Not school.”

“But something is worrying you.” Tony said, half a statement, half a question. Peter nodded, there wasn’t much point in denying it. “Care to elaborate?” Tony looked at Peter with an expression he couldn’t decipher.

“I’m going to come out to May,” Peter burst out before he could stop himself. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest.

“Sorry I didn’t catch that,” Tony said. This was Peter’s chance to back out, but his mind failed to provide anything else to say.

“I’m going to tell May I’m bisexual.” His heart was now beating dangerously fast. He was sure that if he was wearing the suit it would have sent some sort of alert to Tony.

 “And that’s what’s got you so worried?” Peter just nodded. Then Tony smiled, which was not at all what Peter expected.

“Good, something manageable,” he said, still smiling. Peter was unsure how to respond to that. “When are you planning to tell her?”

“Tonight.”

“And you’re nervous, you keep telling yourself she’ll be fine with it, but you can’t stop thinking about what will happen if she’s not.” Again, it was phrased as much as a statement as a question, and a scarily accurate one at that.

“Y... yes.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you exactly how she’ll react, that’s something you’re only going to find out by telling her, but what I can tell you is no matter what, you have people who care about you, and that doesn’t change because you’re bisexual.”

“So, you’re ok with it?”

“Yeah, of course I am.” Hearing Tony say those words was a bigger relief than Peter could have imagined. He looked at Tony for a while before speaking.

“Thank you, you’re actually really good at this.”

“I’m offended you’re so surprised.”

“Sorry,” Peter apologised automatically.

“No need to apologise. I know I’m not the best at this kind of thing usually. I’ve got to have _some_ flaws.” He laughed. “But this time I speak from experience.”

“Experience? You’re… you’re” Peter stammered, hardly believing what he was hearing.

“I’m bisexual.” Peter’s mouth hung open. His hero, his mentor, his idol, was also bisexual. Tony chuckled at Peter’s surprise. “You going to say something, or have I broken you?”

“Sorry, I just had no idea,” Peter managed to get out.

“It’s not exactly public information, not that I’m ashamed, it’s just none of their damn business.” Peter hadn’t noticed Tony moving towards him until he placed a hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing great kid.”

“Were you nervous?”

“Absolutely. I was terrified. There was certainly a lot of freaking out involved. I mean it took me about twenty years to even be able to admit it to myself, so you’re doing very well by that standard.”

“I kind of freaked out when I first realised it,” Peter admitted, “but Ned managed to calm me down.”

“Yeah, it’s good to have a friend.” Peter nodded, both of them remaining silent for a moment. Tony’s eyes flickered around the room. “Are you finished with the web shooters?” Tony broke the silence.

“No, sorry. I was a bit distracted.” He looked down at the shooters, which were currently in multiple pieces spread across the table.

“That’s alright, but it is getting late, and your Aunt won’t be happy if I keep you too long.”

“But the shooters… they’re in pieces. I can’t go out without them.”

“Last time I checked you weren’t planning on going out tonight, unless you’ve been sneaking out after curfew...?” Tony’s eyes were fixed on Peter.

“No, no. I haven’t I promise.”

“Alright then, you can come and finish them off tomorrow.”

“But…” Peter trailed off, unable to come up with any more excuses. “I’m scared Mr Stark.” He tore his eyes away from Tony’s intense gaze and looked down at his hands. “What if she’s not happy? I don’t… I don’t know how I’d cope. Maybe it’s just best to never find out.” Tony sat down so he was now eye level with Peter and grabbed his hands.

“Then you’ll spend a lifetime wondering.” Tony swallowed. “I often think about how my parents would have taken it. Most of the time I tell myself it’s best they didn’t know. I didn’t want to give my father another thing to be disappointed in me for, but the truth is, I don’t know how they would have reacted, and I never will.” Peter could hear a slight tremble in Tony’s voice. “You’re brave, kid, braver than anyone I know.” Peter opened his mouth to protest. How could Tony say that when he was part of a team that regularly saved the world. “Nu uh, it’s true. You can do this, I believe in you. And if it does go south, you still have me, you still have Ned, you’re never going to be alone in this. You got it?” Looked up at Tony and nodded. “Come on then, I’m taking you home.” Tony stood up and began walking out the lab.

“You don’t have to Mr Stark, I know you’re very busy.”

“Well I want to.” Tony didn’t wait for Peter to respond before continuing to walk out, forcing Peter to quickly grab his rucksack and follow.

The journey was uneventful. Tony asked Peter about school, his friends, all the normal kind of stuff, which was a welcome distraction for Peter. It hardly felt like any time at all before they were pulling up in front of Peter’s flat.

“Ready?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

 “Do you want me to be there, or are you ok on your own?”

“I think this is something I have to do on my own.” Tony gave him a smile.

“Good luck, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Mr Stark, for everything.”

“It’s Tony.” Peter let out a small laugh. He could almost feel Tony’s eyes rolling as he got out the car without any response.

As he approached the door his hands were shaking. He fumbled with the keys, taking a while to slot them in.

“You can do it Peter, you can do it,” he whispered to himself. Hands still shaking he turned the door knob and pushed it open. “Hey Aunt May!” He struggled to keep his voice steady. May popped up from behind the counter holding a frying pan.

“Hi Peter. I’m cooking omelette tonight, hope that’s alright.”

“Yeah, that’s good.” Luckily May didn’t seem to notice the way his voice trembled.

“How was your time it the lab?”

“Good.”

“Come on Peter, you usually have way more to say than that. Did Tony show you any cool new tech?”  Peter just shrugged in response. “Honey are you ok?” May’s voiced softened instantly. Peter looked down.

You can do this, he told himself silently, Tony’s encouragement echoing in his head.

“I’m bisexual.” He cursed himself as soon as he said it, it came out far blunter than he’d intended. May looked at him with stunned silenced and Peter’s heart rate shot up, she hates you, she hates you, echoed through his head. It seemed as if time had frozen, the moment going on forever.

Then he felt an arm wrap round him and time started again.

“I love you Peter, nothings ever going to change that, least of all you being bisexual.” Peter felt her hand rub his back and he let out a breath he didn’t even realise he was holding.

“I love you too, May.” He wrapped his arms around her.

“So… there’s a boy you like?” May asked, raising an eyebrow. Peter jumped out the hug.

“What? No!” His face flushed red.

“Peter you’re a terrible liar, how you’ve managed to keep Spiderman a secret is a mystery to me. Now tell me about this boy.”

“Aren’t you meant to be making dinner?”

“For that cheek you’re helping. And don’t think you’re getting away without telling me about the boy, I’m going to want to hear all about him over dinner.”

\---

“What’s his name?” May asked as soon as Peter sat down to eat, not even giving him time to take a single mouthful.

“Jason.”

“I don’t think I’ve heard you talk about a Jason before, is he a new friend of yours?” Peter shrugged.

“He’s joined this term. He’s not exactly a close friend, but he sits next to me in history.” Peter chose his words carefully. There were a million things he could say about Jason, but that also meant a million things May could embarrass him over.

“You’re going to have to give me more than that.”

“Umm… he’s really smart, and kind. He always has his own way of thinking about things, things no one else would even think of.” Peter felt a blush rising up his cheeks as he spoke while May nodded along smiling.

“Is he cute?” May said in a suggestive tone that caused Peter’s whole face to burn.

“Can we talk about something different? Please.”

“Alright, but don’t think this is over.” Peter just rolled his eyes. Despite the embarrassment, he couldn’t even begin to describe how good it felt just to be casually talking about it.

\---

It wasn’t until he pulled away from Peter’s apartment that Tony realised the next day was Saturday, meaning having Peter up at the compound wasn’t as simple as just Happy picking him up after school. He shot Peter a quick text.

‘Happy can pick you up at 9am tomorrow, that good with you?’ He received a reply almost an hour later.

‘yeah 9am is good, thank you’ Tony contemplated asking him if he’d come out and if so how did it go, but he didn’t want to push, and he figured Peter would tell him if he wanted to. Nevertheless, he spent the whole evening worried. What if he’d given Peter the wrong advice. Had he pushed him into coming out before he was ready? Had he projected his own feelings and wishes onto Peter without even considering he might feel differently? For the rest of the night he hovered over his phone, ready to answer within a moment if Peter did text him. No news was good, right? Peter would tell him if it went badly. Maybe he hadn’t even done it yet.

Tony eventually fell asleep at around 3am, maybe closer to 4am, but he’d given strict instructions to FRIDAY to wake him if he received a text from Peter.

When he did wake up to FRIDAY’s alarm, the first thing he did was check his phone, but there were no messages. He rubbed his forehead and lay back down. He’d finally got used to a somewhat normal sleep schedule, staying up so late hadn’t done him any good.

“Hello Sir, I’d like to remind you that you told Mr Parker he would be picked up at 9am but have not yet arranged it with Mr Hogan.” Tony groaned.

“What time is it FRIDAY?”

“8:03 am.”

“Shit, Happy’s going to kill me.”

“Would you like me to call him?”

“No just give me a minute to wake up.” He lay in bed for a while longer, trying to muster the energy to move. God, he needed coffee.

“A minute has passed, sir. Would you like me to call him now?”

“You know goddamn well I didn’t mean that literally.” He forced himself out of bed and pulled on some somewhat presentable clothes. He took another moment to gather himself then headed into the kitchen and pressing the button on the coffee machine. The coffee hardly seemed to help. He supposed that after years of dependency on caffeine, his body had become used to it.

“Sir, it is now 8:20, if you don’t call Mr Hogan soon he won’t reach Peter in time.”

“Ok fine, call Happy.” It didn’t take long for Happy to pick up. “Hey Happy, how are you?” Tony said, trying to sound as nice as possible when he was this sleep deprived.

“What do you want?”

“Are you out of bed?”

“Yes.” He didn’t sound like he wanted to be.

“Great! Can you pick up Peter at 9 and bring him here?”

“Tony, it’s 8:30.”

“8:22 actually, that’s enough time to get there.”

“Why can’t you just do it?”

“I am way to sleep deprived to drive and coffee doesn’t seem to be helping.” Happy didn’t respond to that. “Please Happy, it’s important.”

“Fine I’m on my way.”

“Thank you, Happy.” Happy hung up without a response.

\---

Tony tried to make himself look a bit more presentable before Peter arrived, but failed miserably, with his hair still a mess and bags under his eyes when FRIDAY informed him Peter had arrived.

He quickly ran a comb through his hair then walked down to the front of the building. As soon as he caught sight of Happy and the kid, warmth filled his heart. Peter seemed to be telling Happy about something, clearly something he was excited about by the wide smile on his face, while Happy pretended not to care. Happy turned to glare at Tony as he approached.

“You really owe me this time Tony. Spending 20 minutes listening to an overactive kid is not how I want to be spending my mornings. He just wouldn’t shut up about some stupid film he’s going to see with his friend.”

“Aww, you like me really,” Peter teased.

“Yeah he does. Although, in his defence you’re very difficult to not like.” He could tell how fond Happy was of the kid but knew he would probably die before admitting it. Happy just shook his head.

“Well he’s yours to deal with now. I’m going back to bed.” Tony put his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

“I take it it went well?” Peter nodded.

“Yeah. She didn’t say anything for a moment, and I was terrified, but then she hugged me, and it just felt like everything was going to be alright.” Tony remembered that feeling well. He wasn’t usually a touchy person, but when Rhodey had wrapped his arms around him after he’d finally admitted he was bisexual, he felt safe and calm for the first time since he’d been struggling with it.

“I’m glad to see you back to your normal self.” Peter nodded and smiled shyly at him.

“I just wanted to say thank you, for everything. I don’t think I could have done this without you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, kid. I told you I was just saying how I felt.”

“But still, it really helped a lot to hear it, made me realised I wasn’t alone. You know? If Iron Man felt the same way I did, then maybe those feelings weren’t so silly after all.” Tony didn’t know what to say to that. Peter was now looking directly up at him. “You look like shit,” he commented.

“Language.” Tony couldn’t believe he’d just said that. Maybe Cap had rubbed off on him a little. “Also, rude.” He tried to play if off as a joke. He knew he looked awful, but he also knew if he told Peter why, he would think it was his fault.

“I’m sorry. I just meant it doesn’t look like you’ve slept much. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine. I was just up late working on some things.” Peter did not look reassured by Tony’s words.

“I thought you didn’t do that anymore.” Damn kid worrying about him. It was meant to be the other way around.

“I just got carried away, that’s all, nothing to worry about.” Peter still didn’t look entirely happy with that answer but didn’t push it further. “Come on, let’s go and get those shooters fixed up, then you can get back to being Spiderman.” That bought a smile to Peter’s face.

It took about an hour for Peter to finish up his web shooters, during which time he didn’t stop talking. If Tony was being honest, he only understood about half of what Peter was talking about, but he still loved hearing it.

“I’m done!” Peter announced, proudly holding up his completed work.

“Awesome, shall we test them?” Peter didn’t even have to be asked, he was already gathering his suit and heading out to get changed into it. 

\---

“It was rapid fire that was broken, so let’s start with that.” Tony and Peter were standing in a large room. It was mostly empty except for a large pile of soft matts in one corner and a few mobile and stationary targets along the walls. It had formerly been where the avengers would train or spar, but since there weren’t many of them left, it had become Peter’s training room.

“We’ll start by seeing how many targets you can get in a minute, 1 point for still, 2 for mobile, and minus 50 for hitting Tony.” Tony still remembered one training session where Peter misfired his web, covering Tony in a net of sticky webbing. Although Peter had sprayed his solvent over him and assured him it was all gone, Tony’s hair had felt sticky for days after.

“That was one time!” Peter protested.

“One time too many. Alright FRIDAY start the clock.” FRIDAY beeped to indicate the timer starting and Peter shot off. It was always interesting to see Peter as Spiderman. Due to his lack of formal training his fighting style could only be described as erratic, and even with some real training under his belt, it still maintained some of that element. Rhodey had said it was good, kept the bad guys on their toes.

FRIDAY beeped again to indicated that the minute was up. Peter hopped off his position on the wall and ran to Tony.

“That was awesome! They didn’t jam up at all. It felt like I got loads.”

“We’ll see about that. FRIDAY score.”

“Mr Parker obtained a score of 67 with 97.1% accuracy.” Peter beamed, looking as if he was a moment away from literally jumping with joy.

“Well done, looks like you’re all set to go.” Tony chuckled, feeling a glow of pride. “Well Happy’s not going to want to drive you back, and you’ve done some great work today, so how about I give you a treat and fly you back.” Peter’s eyes widened. He’d been begging Tony to let him fly with him for a while now.

“Really?”

“I think you’ve earned it.”

“Yes! That’s awesome! I can’t wait to tell Ned I got to fly with Iron Man.”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve carried you.”

“Yeah, but all the other times I was injured so it doesn’t count.”

It turned out flying with Peter was a little more complicated than they had originally thought. The previous times Tony had either carried him bridal style or under his arms. Bridal style wasn’t so practical for travelling quickly and under the arms wasn’t comfortable for Peter, and it would be far too easy for Tony to drop him in that position. Eventually they decided to strap Peter to Tony’s chest, in a similar way to paired skydivers do. It was an awkward process trying to get Peter on, but this didn’t seem to deter him at all. 

“Your Spiderman suit will provide some protection, but not as much as my suit so we’re not going to be going too or too high, alright.” Peter nodded vigorously.

“This is going to be so cool.”

“Ready.”

“Yes!” Tony pulled off, starting slowly at first, rising to just above the roof of the compound. “Woah, this view is so cool. You get to see this all the time!”

“I’ve never really thought about the view,” Tony admitted. “I’m usually focusing on whatever is trying to kill me at the time.”

“Well there’s nothing trying to kill you at the moment.” Tony looked around. Peter was right; the view from where they were was stunning. The New York skyline in the distance, and the large green area surrounding the compound, from this far up it all seemed so peaceful.

“Let’s get you to New York. Sure you want to do this?”

“Yeah! I’ve been wanting to do this for ages.” Once Tony was sure Peter was strapped in and ready, he fired up and accelerated towards the city.

In the suit, the trip took not time at all, with Peter cheering the whole way. Tony landed gently on the roof of one of the skyscrapers and unstrapped Peter before getting out of the suit himself.

“That was the coolest thing ever! Flying is the best. Well swinging is pretty fun too but flying… woah. Just being above it all and seeing everything… just wow.”

“Don’t get used to it. This was just a one off treat remember.” Flying with Peter was far too stressful to do on a regular basis, too many things that could go wrong. Peter looked slightly disheartened at this comment, but it didn’t wipe the smile off his face.

“I should be going now, got a city to look after.” He gestured to the streets below.

“Ok, good luck kid. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

“Well, thank you.” Tony nodded as if to say you’re welcome. “For flying me, for helping me before, just for everything. I couldn’t ask for a better mentor.” Tony had to fight back the urge to tell Peter he really wasn’t as good a mentor as he seemed to think. Instead he opted for a smile and a pat on the back.

“I couldn’t ask for a better mentee.” Peter pulled his mask back on and with a wave, swung himself of the building down onto the streets.

\---

Once Tony was back at the compound, he lay down on one of the sofas.

“FRIDAY, what’s the time?” he asked.

“It is 10:43 sir.” Tony closed his eyes. Was it really still that early. It felt like the whole day had passed already. He thought about the last couple of days, everything Peter had said. He was glad to see how much better Peter had been today than the day before, but one thing Peter said echoed in his mind. _If Iron Man felt the same way I did, then maybe those feelings weren’t so silly after all._ He knew he was a role model for Peter, he made that obvious, but it had never occurred to Tony the extent that it influenced him. He began to wonder if it wasn’t just Peter. Did he have the power to help more people like he had Peter?

If he did then… “FRIDAY call Pepper.”

“Have you finally looked over those reports I sent you three days ago?” Pepper said as soon as the line connected.

“Shit.” In the events of the last few days Tony had completely forgotten.

“I’m going to take that as a no. So, what is this call about?”

“I need to do a press conference.”

“Why?”

“I… I’ll explain in person. Please, this is important.”

“Tony it never goes well when you go into a press conference without preparing. What makes this time any different?”

“I’ll explain everything. Please can you come over.” There was about 30 seconds of silence before Pepper answered.

“Ok, I can be there at 12:30.”

“Thank you. And I will look at those reports, I promise.”

After Pepper he called both Rhodey and Happy, asking them to come over at 12:30. Happy was very reluctant at first after that morning, but eventually agreed and Rhodey agreed fairly quickly. God, I’m really doing this, Tony silently told himself.

\---

The three of them all arrived close to on the dot at 12:30, making Tony wonder how he ended up with such organised friends when he was a mess himself. He said a quick hello to everyone, but Pepper quickly cut the friendly greetings short, asking the purpose of this. Tony took a deep breath before answering.

“I’m going to come out.” The shock was clearly noticeable on all of their faces. They looked like they had a million questions but didn’t know where to start.

“Why now?” Pepper was the first to speak. Tony didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t tell them about Peter, not until Peter said he was comfortable with them knowing.

“I was thinking, and well…” How could he put this? “There are people out their who look up to me. God knows why, but there are.” Rhodey opened his mouth to argue but Tony continued to talk. “And there are also lots of people out there who are struggling with their sexuality and maybe I can help them. Show them they’re not alone.”

“Wow… that amazing Tony. I’m proud of you.” Rhodey smiled earnestly at him. Happy gave a nod of affirmation.

“When do you want to do it?” Pepper asked.

“As soon as possible, give myself less time to freak out about it.”

“I’ll organise a conference for this afternoon. Is three good?”

“Wait really?” Tony had thought he’d have to do a lot more to convince her.

“Yes, you were right. This is important.”

“Wow Pepper admitting Tony is right, not something you see every day,” Happy teased. Pepper just responded with a glare.

“So, three o’clock is good?”

“Yeah, three o’clock, that’s like two hours. Two hours that’s fine.” He felt Rhodey’s hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, we’re with you the whole way, alright,” he said, his voice grounding Tony.

“Thanks, it means a lot.” Now he just had to figure out exactly what he was going to say.

\---

After Tony had dropped him off, Peter stayed out as Spiderman for a few hours before his stomach rumbling began to get too loud and he headed back to his apartment for lunch. It was just him in the apartment, May had to work an extra shift, so he pulled together a couple of sandwiches and sat in front of the TV to eat it. He put the TV onto news, but mostly tuned it out, focusing on texting Ned. At least until he heard the words ‘Tony Stark’ spoken by the reporter. He looked up and saw the headline. ‘TONY STARK CALLS SURPRISE CONFERENCE.’ That certainly caught Peter’s attention. He had no idea Tony was going to be doing a conference and Tony had been telling him a lot lately, so this was either something new in the last few hours or something even Peter couldn’t know about. Peter put his phone down and watched the screen aptly. The stage was currently empty, but below there was a huge crowd of reporters all trying to push their way to the front.

When Tony walked onto the stage, he looked a whole lot better than that morning, but still looked somewhat dishevelled, not quite up to his usual pristine public appearance. He stood at the centre of the stage and coughed, causing all the reporters to go quiet.

“Alright. What I’ve got to say here is pretty short, so I’m just going to cut straight to the chase.” It was a while before he spoke again, all the reports leaning forwards in anticipation. “I’m bisexual.” The crowd immediately broke into a frantic array of shouting and squabbling as people tried to get their question heard.

As for Peter, his mouth was wide open. Just that morning Tony had told him his sexuality was none of the public’s business, what had changed?

“Be quiet will you. I swear you’re like a bunch of animals.” Tony said exasperated. He had often complained about reporters to Peter. The crowd quietened down, but many of them were still jumping up trying to be noticed. “You, speak.” Tony pointed to one of the reporters in the front row.

“Why is this the first we’re hearing of this?” Peter did not like her tone. She sounded almost offended that he hadn’t come out earlier.

“I haven’t said anything before because it’s none of your damn business.” Tony looked around at the field of reporters. “But I am now, because someone helped me realise that there are a lot of people out there who are struggling with their sexuality. Who may feel lost or alone. I want to show them that they’re not.” The whole room was completely silent now. “Because I went through all that. I was confused. I pushed it all down because I didn’t want to deal with it. It was hard, but now I’m here and I can confidently say: I am bisexual. So, here’s to all the people who are where I was then now. You are not alone and it’s not going to be like this forever. You deserve to be happy.” Tony’s voice began to break at the end of the sentence. “That’s it, I’m done now,” he announced before unceremoniously exiting the state.

Peter’s eyes were wet as he continued to stare blankly at the screen, hardly registering what the reporter was saying. Overwhelmed with emotion, Tony’s words echoed in his head. _Someone made me realise._ That was him. Tony had done this because of him. He had to go and see him, now.

\---

Tony felt his heart pounding as a left the stage, trying not to think about the mass of reporters behind him. He could tell he was on the edge of a panic attack, his breathing erratic and thoughts scattered. He needed something to ground him. Peter. He thought about Peter, just as he had done on the stage. Those words hadn’t been meant for the crowd of reporters, they had been meant for Peter and people like him. The crowd was simply an unfortunate barrier to reaching them.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around. Rhodey stood by him, with Pepper and Happy behind.

“That was amazing man, I’m happy for you.” Rhodey gave him a wide smile.

“Yeah, thanks.” Tony tried to convince himself that Rhodey was right, that this wasn’t all just one big mistake. Peter, he reminded himself. Peter made it all worth it.

“Come on, I’m going to order a pizza to celebrate.” Rhodey patted him on the back, and urged him forwards. Once Rhodey got a bit ahead, Happy approached.

“It was Peter, wasn’t it? The one who got you to do this,” he said quietly, ensuring no one else could hear.

“What… why do you think that?” He didn’t want to out Peter before he was comfortable.

“His sudden mood change from yesterday to this morning, lining up with your sudden desire to do this can hardly be a coincidence. Plus, he’s the only one who can get through to you like this.”

“What do you mean?”

“With everyone else you have this shell around you. Witty, sarcastic Tony who doesn’t feel, but with Peter you’re open and caring.” Tony opened his mouth to deny it, before realising he couldn’t. Peter was the only one he felt comfortably truly being himself around. At first, it was just because Peter needed it, but he began to realise how much he needed it too.

“Just don’t bring this up with Peter, alright. I don’t know if he’s comfortable with people knowing.”

“Yeah, of course.” Happy had his soft smile that he often had when talking about Peter, at least when Peter wasn’t present.

“I’m not the only one Peter’s got to you know.” Happy scowled slightly.

“It’s impossible not to. That kid probably has another secret power he hasn’t told us about that he’s using to manipulate us.” Happy said causing Tony to chuckle.

\---

It seemed that Rhodey had called for pizza beforehand because it was waiting for them on the counter when they reached the kitchen. They all grabbed one for the boxes and got comfortable on the sofas, eating in a sloppy manner that Pepper would usually criticise. They were about halfway through the pizza and comfortably settled into a conservation when FRIDAY announced that Peter Parker was standing outside the entrance.

“Peter… what?” Tony stood up immediately. “You guys stay here. I’ll go and get him.”

As FRIDAY had said, Peter was standing outside the entrance, looking as if he was slightly lost. Tony also noticed that his hair was messier than usual, accompanied by red cheeks and sweat dripping from his forehand, which was unusual considering his high metabolism meant he rarely tired out like this.

As soon as Tony approach him, Peter wrapped his arms around him. The act caught Tony by surprise and he tumbled back a little, but once he was steady, he returned the gesture.

“That was really awesome… You coming out and everything you said.” Peter’s voice was still a bit raspy as he tried to catch his breath. “It’s going to help a lot of people I think.” Tony felt his heart warm as Peter spoke. He didn’t know what to say so instead he just squeezed tighter with his hug, pulling Peter in closer to him.

“How did you get here?” He asked eventually.

“I ran.” Well that explained his state when he arrived.

“The whole way?” Tony was pretty sure even with Peter’s powers that was impossible.

“No, I got the train as far as I could then ran the rest.”

“You ran all the way from the station?” Peter nodded and Tony began to wonder why he was here. It took quite a lot of dedication to get here on his own. “Do you need something?” Peter looked confused.

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” Peter slowly pulled out of the hug and looked down at his feet.

“I… I just wanted to see you.” He said nervously.

“Oh.”

“I mean, I watched your press conference and I just needed to come and tell you how much it meant to me.”

“Oh,” Tony repeated, feeling incredibly stupid. He just couldn’t put the way he was feeling into words.

“Am I bothering you? I can go back home if you want.”

“No! the opposite. I’m happy. I’m really happy.” Tony put his arm back around Peter. “Damn it kid, you’re making me feel things. You know I try to avoid that.” A smile broke out on Peter’s face.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said, his laughter undermining the words.

“We’re having pizza upstairs, want to join?”

“I don’t want to intrude.”

“You came all the way here, and we all love you, so it won’t be a problem.” Tony tried not to think about the fact he’d just indirectly told Peter he loved him.

“Ok, I’ll come.” Tony smiled and took Peter up to the common room. Just before they entered the room Peter stopped them.

“I think I want to tell them I’m bi.”

“Go for it. They’re going to be totally cool with it.”

“I know, just… is it weird? I don’t know if I know them well enough and I don’t want to make a big deal about it.”

“It will be fine. It doesn’t have to be a big deal if you don’t want. Just say it. End of. But you don’t have to at all if you don’t want. Don’t feel pressured into it.” Tony thought about telling him Happy had already figured it out, but he didn’t want to take this away from him.

“Yeah thanks.”

  Everyone greeted Peter warmly as they entered the room, all offering him some of their pizza, something they never did to anyone else. Peter really had got them all under some sort of spell. After a little protest, Peter accepted their offer and was quickly wolfing down some of Happy’s meat supreme pizza.

“So what brings you here Peter?” Pepper asked kindly, unintentionally causing Peter to look down uncomfortably, a blush rising up his cheek. Tony was ready to step in with an excuse when Peter started talking.

“I just wanted to see Mr St… uh… Tony. I saw the press conference and I needed to thank him, because… it was really cool what he did. It’s really going to help people… people like me.” Tony shot Peter a reassuring smile. If anyone was surprised by what Peter had said, they did a good job of hiding it, which Tony was grateful for. He saw a brief flash of realisation on Rhodey’s face, but other than that, they all just smiled.

“I think we’re all very proud of Tony,” Pepper said getting a nod out of everyone in the room. Tony felt the sudden urge to pull everyone into a group hug, but quickly squashed that down.

“Please stop, this is too many emotions for one day. If you keep going I might end up hugging all of you,” Tony said as if hugging was the most horrible fate imaginable. Peter mumbled something that Tony couldn’t quite make out. “What was that?” Peter looked thoughtful for a moment before leaping forwards and wrapping his arms around Tony, almost causing him to fall back.

“Hugs aren’t so bad.” Rhodey laughed as Tony tried to regain his balance.

“You know what, the kid’s not wrong,” Rhodey said and Tony felt another arm wrap around him. He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help relishing the feeling. It wasn’t long before there was another set of arms around him and Happy was left as the only one not in the hug. Tony made eye contact and looked at him playfully.

“I am not joining.”

“Aww come on, please.” Peter gave Happy his best puppy dog eyes. Happy sighed and reluctantly moved over to join the hug. Tony couldn’t remember the last time he felt this happy.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! I'm also on tumblr @faldris where I mostly post about irondad and spiderson


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